Iain (Moody) and Sandi, raw fooders, make up the band Ripped based out of Burlington in Ontario, Canada. On their website you can listen to some of their songs, watch a video, buy their latest cd entitled "A Daily Ritual," and see pictures of the band. You may know their music from the independent horror film Insight of Evil (2004), which featured two of their songs.

I really liked your site, and I listened to your songs online - great music! Do you spread the raw message through your music, or is that your sideline gig?

Moody: Hi Sarah, you can call me Moody. That's my nickname that Sandi gave me about 10 years ago. We have not written any songs about being raw, however we have written many songs that deal with animal rights. We hope to put them on future cd's. Whenever we do interview for the band, the subject of our eating habits usually comes up somehow and that gives us the opportunity to spread the word about our lifestyle.

Sandi, you went raw at 18, right? What/who influenced you? Moody, what about you? Did you go vegetarian first then slowly move to raw foods or make a sudden change?

Sandi: Hi Sarah, I read the book Fit For Life by Harvey and Marilyn Diamond when I was around 17 or 18. That's when I realized that raw living foods were best for health. I then took T.C. Fry's course on Natural Hygiene and got my diploma. The first few years were a struggle to stay raw because of old bad habits and no support from family at the time. I have been a vegetarian ever since reading the book.

Moody: I became a vegetarian shortly after Sandi. She inspired me. I did not aspire to become mostly raw until I saw a David Wolfe seminar (2002) and read one of his books. Since then I've tried to be as close to 100% raw as I can but cannot seem to overcome popcorn and the odd bagel.

Moody says you (Sandi) have converted others over to raw foods. What's your secret?

Sandi: I have inspired many people to increase their raw food intake and become vegetarian and even vegan. Sometimes I just lend people books and that's enough to get them to make changes. I love talking about raw foods and how much better I feel when I'm raw.

What do you eat on the road? Do you bring along any appliances like a vitamix or a juicer?

We mostly play locally and have had no problems yet. We are planning to go on the road a few times in the near future. We plan to stop at supermarkets and eat whole fruits and vegetables, organic if possible. This will require no appliances or gadgets. We quite often make meals out of just one fruit like bananas, apples, oranges, etc. We think we'll have it easier than cooked people because we will have more energy, need less sleep, and we won't be eating junky fast foods.

Are the other members of your band veg, and if not, what do they think of your diet?

Moody: Our producer Ashton Price (Morph Productions) is a vegan, but not raw. The band is just Sandi and I. We hire various bass players and drummers depending on who's available for the night of the show. None of them have ever been vegetarian. We have wanted to find raw vegan or vegetarian musicians to play with us but have been unsuccessful. If you know of any tell them to go to our website and contact us.

Do you promote raw foods on stage or give out information?

Sandi: Not yet. We would like to in the future though and sell raw books with our cd's.

How long have you known David Wolfe and played with the Healing Waters band? Was it just totally cool getting to meet him? What is their bus like, the one that runs on vegetable oil?

Moody: We met David two years ago at his seminar and kept in touch with him. We made friends with Tony Thorpe, the singer of the band and set up a show for them on their North American tour this year. We played with them in Toronto at the 360 Club on Tuesday April 27th.

Sandi: David is truly charismatic and inspirational person. He radiates warmth and love. You can't help but like him. The whole band is very much like David and are great examples of the raw food lifestyle. And yes, it was totally cool meeting and playing with a RAWK star!

Moody: I had Durian with David and Tony on the vegetable oil bus. It looks like a big Greyhound bus that has been converted to a band touring bus. What's your favorite food?

Moody: I would have to say Durian.

Sandi: Durian "Call Me" by Blondie has always been one of my favorite songs! What made you decide to record it?

Sandi: Blondie is our favorite band. We play many of their songs but this one is produced very different from the original and sounds very cool. We thought people would like to hear our interpretation of the song. The video for Call Me will be on our website this fall.

How long do you think it will be before we have a raw food music fest? Rawlapalooza or something like that?

Moody: I'm hoping it will be very soon. It could possibly be next summer. Maybe we'll start one with the Healing Waters Band.

Musicians are known for heavy partying. What do you do for fun? Being raw I think alcohol and stuff is out of the question, right? (good influence on us teens!! :)

Moody: We party just like everyone else except we don't have to be drunk or high on drugs to be having fun. We just wrote a song called "Anodyne" which is about us being high without substance abuse. We still have a glass of organic wine occasionally (which is raw), but don't recommend alcohol to anyone. We get our high off of doing ashtanga yoga. If you haven't tried it then go to a real ashtanga school and see what this ancient practice can do for the mind, body and spirit.